Wang Zhen, [Wang] Shoudao:1
1. We have received your telegram of July 18. Where are Taohuashan and Jinjiaping? How is the situation along the way? From there how much time do you estimate will be needed to reach the Wuling mountain range?2
2. The Japanese bandits have transported five divisions (regiments) from Hunan and Guangxi to move northward to deal with the landing of the Allied forces in Shandong. They are not giving up southern China. But in order to shorten their defense line, they have already given up places, including Nanning, Liuzhou, and Ganzhou, and will probably give up some other locations as well. But at least they will have to defend Guangzhou and the entire Guangzhou-Hankou railway line securely. Ji’an and Yuanzhou were not taken; the rumors from the merchants are incorrect.
3. The three big shots’3 meeting in Berlin will settle the two big issues of Europe and Asia. For more than ten days, Song Ziwen4 was in the Soviet Union for meetings, yet the problem was not solved. After the meeting of the three big shots, Song will go to the Soviet Union again and may decide on the issue of China and the Soviet Union fighting the war together. All of Chiang Kaishek’s preparations are anti-Communist; the danger of a civil war is unprecedentedly severe.
4. Your only task is to seize this precious moment to establish the Wuling Base Area in northern Guangdong and southern Hunan and to merge with our troops in Guangdong, preparing for the diversion of the southern wing when civil war breaks out. To complete this task, you will encounter extreme difficulties. But it can be accomplished as long as we act in unison and the policy is correct. Do not expect to set up a base area in the districts of Liuyang, Liling, Hengyang, and Baoqing. It is certain that Chiang Kaishek will try to eliminate these base areas with full force after the defeat of the Japanese bandits, which will then put our army in a disadvantageous position. You should march all the way to the south to set up the Wuling Base Area, taking advantage of the conflicts in the border region of the four provinces of Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Jiangxi, where we can still establish a foothold even after the defeat of the Japanese bandits. In addition, it is of great strategic importance to join forces with the Dongjiang Brigade [in Guangdong] so they can gain assistance, preserve and develop this southern force that has been established for many years, and avoid possible failures. The completion of this task also relies on you. You must look into the future when confronting problems. Do not be confused by passing phenomena.
5. Be modest and discreet, not haughty and hasty; this is the attitude that everyone in the Party should adopt. Being modest avoids haughtiness, and being discreet avoids hastiness; haughtiness and hastiness are the biggest enemy to the work of the revolution. I hope you will discipline yourselves to these and educate every cadre.
6. Imagine all possible difficulties in everything, such as serious enemy threats, defeat, running out of food, troops diminishing instead of expanding, internal opinions diverging, disunity, and so forth. Only when you have thoroughly considered these beforehand, are fully prepared spiritually, and have prepared the cadres as well, will you be able to come up with ways of overcoming the difficulties and thus march toward a bright future.
Mao Zedong
Our source for this document is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 809–11, where it is reproduced from the manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.
1. Wang Zhen and Wang Shoudao were at this time commander-in-chief and commissar of the Hunan People’s Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army, respectively.
2. The mountain range that runs along the Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Guangxi borders.
3. The three big shots refer to Stalin, Harry S Truman, and Winston Churchill.
4. Song Ziwen (T.V. Soong) was at this time head of the State Administrative Council and minister of foreign affairs of the Guomindang government.